Origin to Power the mindful MATERIALS Library

December 1, 2016 – Chicago, USA

mindful MATERIALS is a free, industry initiative that empowers Manufacturers to share key green building and transparency product achievements with the A+D community. Initially founded by HKS the program is advised by industry leading firms and professionals. Over 140 A+D and consulting firms across North America and Europe as well as over 175 Manufacturers have engaged to provide their product information. mindful MATERIAL collaboratives have launched in over 70 cities as the initiative continues to gain traction.

GIGA and mindful MATERIALS have signed an MOU and agree to collaborate to bring the mindful MATERIALS program to the cloud. Thru this partnership, GIGA will provide a free cloud-based library to display all products that have been submitted to the mindful MATERIALS program. The Library will be released in February 2017 and will be powered by Origin’s data exchange platform. Manufacturers will be able to freely provide their products to the mindful MATERIALS Library and manage their content directly in the cloud. Architects, designers and specifiers will all have free access to search and view product data through the mindful MATERIALS lens.

“Since learning about “The Big Ask” we have worked with the mindful MATERIALS movement to support its transition to the cloud. GIGA and mindful MATERIALS share a fundamental goal of publishing open data to guide more informed material selections, working together has been a natural fit. We’re excited to merge technology with product information to make data easier to manage, access, and to ultimately make it more useful in day to day design flows.”

Ryan Dick, GIGA

Manufacturers can expect to streamline the time required to manage their product information as Origin, the cloud power behind the mindful MATERIALS Portal will allow an option for the same information to be shared with multiple endpoints. Efficiency will increase as additional endpoints are supported by Origin.

“The mindful MATERIALS Library makes it possible for our designers to easily access critical product information. By linking multiple types of transparency and optimization information to specific building products, furnishings and textiles, product research is simplified for our designers, making it easier to select preferred products for people and planet.”

“When designers collaborate on a program to meet their own information needs, we want to support it. By partnering with Origin on an open data platform, mindful MATERIALS is taking an important next step toward providing more accessible and up-to-date product information to designers while reducing the burden on manufacturers of maintaining the same information on a multitude of systems.”

Participation in mindful MATERIALS is free and open to all Manufacturers. To get involved in time for the launch of the mindful MATERIALS portal, contact the mindful MATERIALS Working Group (mMworkingGroup@gmail.com).

About mindful MATERIALS

mindful MATERIALS is a design industry initiative that provides a common platform for manufacturers to clearly communicate transparency and optimization information for their building products.

About GIGA

GIGA is an independent third party that combines the development of building standards with cloud software. GIGA's platform, Origin Data Hub, provides free access to transparent, connected data to support performance-driven, regenerative buildings. Origin integrates with certification bodies, 3rd party databases and auditors, allowing Manufacturers to manage product information in a single location, while making all data easily accessible to Architects, Designers and Specifiers.